In September in Ventimiglia representatives of the Government, of Liguria Region, of the Province of Imperia and of local municipalities presented the EUR 1.2 bn project for the Sanremo-Ventimiglia Aurelia Bis section. The definitive alignment of the Aurelia Bis between Sanremo and the French border was shared with all local authorities and will now mainly be in tunnels.
The current S.S. n.1 Aurelia, crossing the municipalities of Sanremo, Ospedaletti, Bordighera, Vallecrosia, Camporosso and Ventimiglia, has several critical issues due to multiple factors, including:
• the restricted road section;
• several buildings facing the entire settlements with significant settlement loads;
• the significant increase in traffic in the summer period;
• the absence of rest areas.
The project will involve a two-lane C1 road section, one in each direction, which will decongest traffic in the area and provide an alternative road to the A10 motorway in the event of closures and will leave the only local and tourist function to the historic Aurelia coastal route.
The 17 km stretch of Aurelia Bis from Sanremo to Ventimiglia will be divided into three construction lots:
• Lot 1, Sanremo Variante
• Lot 2, Sanremo-Ospedaletti
• Lot 3, Ospedaletti-Ventimiglia
In the Feasibility Study, 4 Route Alternatives were studied and presented to the local administrations at the beginning of 2023. Following these discussions, two further alternatives were studied and compared with a multi-criteria analysis. Alternative E was chosen: Centre, Pian Poma/Ventimiglia.
For the construction of the 4.3km Lot 1 - Sanremo Variation the Extraordinary Commissioner Eng. Matteo Castiglioni was appointed with a Prime Ministerial Decree on the 9 May 2022.
The PFTE (Technical Economic Feasibility Project) and the SIA (Environmental Impact Study) have to be completed before starting the authorization procedures as required by the new procurement code (Legislative Decree no. 36/2023).
Lot 2, San Remo-Ospedaletti, will be 4.4 km long with 3 tunnels for a total of 3.4 km. It will include the construction of the:
- Pian di Poma roundabout connecting with the Sanremo Variante and Padre Semeria Road
- Ospedaletti West roundabout connecting with the historic Aurelia.
Lot 3, Ospedaletti - Ventimiglia, will be 8.65 km long with 5 tunnels for a total of 7.5 km. It will also concern the municipalities of Bordighera, Vallecrosia and Camporosso and it will be divided into 3 sections due to its complexity: Section 1 between Ospedaletti and Bordighera East, 3.45 km long, with 3.29 km in tunnel; Section 2 between Bordighera East and Camporosso, 2.40 km long, with 1.94 km in tunnel; Section 3 between Camporosso and Ventimiglia, 2.8 km long with 2.4 km in tunnel.
Edoardo Rixi, deputy minister of infrastructure and transport, said that - if all environmental procedures are managed to be closed by 2024 - it will be possible to begin construction of the first works from the second half of 2025. The objective is to start the works both from Sanremo side with the first functional lot of EUR300 million and from Ventimiglia side with the first approximately EUR200 million subsection.
The different work phases will be shared with the territory aiming to optimize the construction. It will also find solutions for the disposal/reuse of excavated soil so as not to further congest the road system. An estimate of the duration of the works will only be possible after the executive projects have been carried out. For further information, visit https://www.regione.liguria.it/ and https://www.stradeanas.it. 36/23.
